WHERE IN THE WORLD IS LUCY

Sharing the humanity behind the foods and products we love. Photographer, Abolitionist, Passionate lover of life.

Radical single mom, and human rights crusader Lucy O’Bryan journeys to some of the least visited regions on the planet seeking a greater understanding of humanity. She attempts to uncover the struggles of everyday survival in some of the world’s harshest countries, while exposing the most basic truth of humanity - the love and the laughter that exists in us all.

Girls Education-Cote d'Ivoire

After my Coca Cola emergency in this cocoa tropical paradise, my colleagues took me to see a newly built school funded by Godiva Chocolates.

In 2007, nearly one in two children did not attend primary school in Cote d’Ivoire. Lack of infrastructure, inadequate facilities and a shortage of teachers resulted in low school enrollment.

Also, because cocoa production is labor intensive and farm wages are low, the use of child labor is widespread, keeping children out in the fields working with their parents rather than in school. .

Over the past decade, however, Cote d’Ivoire has made huge strides to eradicate child labor in the cocoa regions and to increase child education, especially for girls. In fact, in recent years the government has implemented a series of ambitious reforms, including a 2015 law that made school attendance compulsory for all children ages 6-16 and significantly increased education spending.

Now, according to UNICEF, 89 percent of girls transition successfully from primary to secondary school. That’s an impressive outcome.